Muzaffarnagar riots: Court rejects clean chit for six accused

MUZAFFARNAGAR: In a twist to Kawal village murder case, which had triggered riots in Muzaffarnagar in 2013, a local court on Tuesday trashed the clean chit given by Special Investigation Team (SIT) to the six accused and directed them to surrender before it.

Shahnawaz, 25, was stabbed to death on August 27, 2013 in Kawal village, allegedly by a group of eight persons in a group clash. Soon after the murder, a crowd caught two of the attackers and lynched them. Remaining six accused had managed to escape. At least 63 people died and over 50,000 were displaced in the riots that followed.

The SIT, which was set up by the state government to probe the riots cases, gave a clean chit to the six persons accused in the murder of Shahnawaz. While the probe agency filed a charge-sheet in the second case, in which two youths were lynched by mob in Kawal village. However, in a fresh turn of events, additional chief judicial magistrate Ankur Sharma rejected the SIT’s clean chit and summoned the six accused – Prahlad, Vishan, Devender, Jitendra, Yogender and Ravinder – on July 10.